Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives at the parade ring with Princess Alexandra in a horse drawn carriage, on the second day of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting in Ascot, England, Wednesday, June 20, 2018. Queen Elizabeth II is marking her 96th birthday privately on Thursday, April 21, 2022 retreating to the Sandringham estate in eastern England that has offered the monarch and her late husband, Prince Philip, a refuge from the affairs of state. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)
Queen Elizabeth II was marking her 96th birthday privately Thursday, retreating to the Sandringham estate in eastern England that has offered the monarch and her late husband, Prince Philip, a refuge from the affairs of state.
Elizabeth is expected to spend the day at the estate’s Wood Farm cottage, a personal sanctuary where she also spent her first Christmas since Philip’s death in April 2021. Philip loved the cottage, in part because it is close to the sea, she said in February when hosting a rare public event at Sandringham.
“I think the queen’s approach to birthdays very much embodies her ‘keep calm and carry on’ attitude," said Emily Nash, the royal editor at HELLO! magazine. ”She doesn’t like a fuss."
This birthday comes during the queen’s platinum jubilee year, marking her 70 years on the throne. While Thursday will be low-key, public celebrations will take place June 2-5, when four days of jubilee festivities have been scheduled to coincide with the monarch’s official birthday.
The day marks yet another milestone in a tumultuous period for the monarch, who has sought to cement the future of the monarchy amid signs of her age and controversy in the family. After recovering from a bout of COVID-19 earlier this year, the queen’s public appearances have been limited by unspecified “mobility issues.” Prince Andrew’s multimillion-pound settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual exploitation also caused unwanted headlines for the royal family.
But the queen got an early birthday treat last week, when grandson Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, paid her a joint visit for the first time since they stepped away from frontline royal duties and moved to California in 2020. Harry, in an interview with NBC, said his grandmother was “on great form,” though he added that he wanted to make sure she was “protected” and had “the right people around her.”
Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Elizabeth has spent much of the past two years at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she took refuge during the pandemic.
It’s been a little over a year since the death of Philip, her spouse of more than 70 years.
The queen said good-bye during a scaled-down funeral in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Coronavirus restrictions in place at the time limited the service to 30 mourners and forced the monarch to sit alone — a poignant reminder of how she would spend her remaining years.
Last month, with the pandemic on the wane and restrictions eased, the queen shrugged off recent health issues to attend a service of thanksgiving for Philip at Westminster Abbey, entering the abbey on the arm of Andrew, her second son. Her choice of escort was seen as a vote of support for Andrew following his legal settlement.
But the in-person appearance was rare. The Queen has increasingly relied on Prince Charles to take on public engagements in the twilight of her reign, most recently offering alms to senior citizens at the Royal Maundy service at St. George’s Chapel.
Charles took on the traditional task of distributing specially minted coins to retirees who were being recognized for service to the church and the local community.
This year, 96 men and 96 women received the coins, one for each year of the queen’s life.
“She has a lot coming up in the next few months, so it absolutely makes sense that she enjoys her birthday quietly, privately at Sandringham,″ Nash said. “She will no doubt have quite a lot of time to reflect on her happy times there with Prince Philip over the years. But this is really someone whose focus is still on the future, even at the age of 96.”
A new report from CNBC says Instagram recently reached a new milestone -- 2 billion monthly active users. It comes amid a year of controversy for the photo-sharing app and its parent company, Meta. SocialFlow CEO Jim Anderson joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
A report from KPMG International found that global mergers and acquisitions in 2021 reached $5.1 trillion in transactions. Carol Streicher, U.S. deal advisory and strategy service group leader for KPMG, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about the record-breaking year and next year's outlook, which KPMG says could be even more staggering. "We're not seeing any slow down in '22," she said, regarding survey results of 350 business leaders. "Things that were tailwinds for us in M&A activity this past year are going to continue to be tailwinds for us in 2022."
MotorTrend named the Rivian R1T as the 2022 truck of the year - a prestigious title given by the publication as a way for automakers to tout third-party validation. Rivian beat out traditional, legacy truck favorites like Ford and General Motors.
MotorTrend said the company earned high marks for safety, efficiency, value, advanced design, engineering excellence, and performance of intended function. MotorTend head of editorial Ed Loh joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
There is a new way for investors to bet on cannabis - the AdvisorShares Poseidon Dynamic Cannabis ETF targets about 20 of the biggest names in U.S. cannabis. It comes at a time when it's still difficult for investors to access the space. Cheddar News cannabis reporter Chloe Aiello spoke with co-founder and managing director for Poseidon Investment Management, Emily Paxhia.
Danvas is a new company that aims to bring NFTs and digital artwork into the real world through an interactive, museum-quality display. The company says its product is the first premium, luxury digital art canvas, which it hopes will accelerate the world's appreciation of digital artists and their work, and empower collectors to acquire more NFT art. Danvas also just announced its launch this week, with a $7 million seed round from some big-name backers. Danvas co-founder and CEO Jeanne Anderson joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
LaFawn Davis, SVP of ESG at Indeed, joins Cheddar Wellness to break down why empathy is so important in the workplace, how to improve empathetic skills at work, and what the future of empathy looks like in the workplace.
Actor, pastor, and now author Kel Mitchell joined Cheddar's 'Between Bells' to talk about his new book 'Blessed Mode: 90 Days to Level Up Your Faith' and what inspired him to write it. Mitchell said the book aims to help people boost their physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Ordained as a pastor in 2019, he talked about his service in the church. He also talked about what it was like working with former castmates on Nickelodeon's 'All That' reboot.
VR/AR collaboration platform Spatial is diving head first into the Metaverse. The company is switching up its image--now branding itself as 'the metaverse for cultural events,' aiming to become the new virtual hub for NFT galleries, brand experiences, and large-scale conferences. Jacob Loewenstein, Head of Business, Spatial, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the company's pivot.
e.l.f Beauty is celebrating a significant milestone in its sustainable journey. Since launching its Project Unicorn initiative in 2019, the company has eliminated more than one million pounds of packaging materials. Ashley Rosebrook, e.l.f. Beauty's chief creative officer, who spearheaded this effort and has continued to work to reduce the brand's carbon footprint, joined Cheddar to discuss this initiative and what the company aims to do next.
